Talking Chop

As part of season reviews for major league players and top prospect ranking for minor league players, we here at Talking Chop thought it would be a fun idea to get all of our bloggers together with the help of Google Docs and debate the various aspects of each position in the Braves organization.

The participants are, yours truly (gondeee, indicated by MG), yondaime4 (indicated by MF), royhobbs (indicated by DH), and cbwilk (indicated by CBW).

The round table for center fielders in the Braves organization is after the jump.

MG:  Should the Braves give the right field job to Jason Heyward before spring training, or should they take a wait and see approach and see how his spring training goes before giving him the job?
MG:  I'm of two opinions on this. One, I really want to see Heyward make the jump to the bigs and become all he can be. I wanted to see it last year, and I sure as hell want to see it as soon as possible next year. On the other hand, with the lost time in the AFL he just might not be ready, and the last thing we need is to bring up our brightest young star since Chipper Jones before he's ready. I have this idea that assuming the Braves get a "good" left fielder, they should plan on starting Matt Diaz in right (despite the defensive drop), and let him play right until Heyward is ready. Diaz can then spell both corner outfield spots and pinch hit.
CBW: I don't think they should give him the job before Spring Training, or even after Spring Training. I think they should do exactly what they did with Tommy Hanson, let him play in AAA for two months, until he proves without a doubt that he's ready, and also happens to bypass the possibility of becoming a Super 2 in arbitration, before they call him up June 1st. This scenario certainly will make some folks upset, as it likely means you have to go with a lesser player in RF for a few months (though if that guy is Matty Diaz, that's not too bad) and of course you'll run into the problem that if he does finally come up and dominate there will be people coming out of the woodwork, maybe even teammates, saying that he should have been there from the outset. But, this isn't about what makes people happy, or even really about what makes the team better for the first few months of the year, this is about what's going to be best for Heyward and the Braves long-term. My argument with Tommy Hanson has been that without those two months of AAA at the start of the year, he wouldn't have been ready and able to play well from the outset of his Major League career, and I'm taking that same argument with Heyward. The kid is 20 years old and he can learn a ton from a couple of months in AAA, enough to make him an instant force when he does reach the bigs. And, because he'd be skipping out on being a Super 2, the team would have more money a few years down the line to put pieces around him. To me, this scenario is the one that makes the most sense, and I'm betting it's the one that actually happens.
DH:  Jordan Schafer and Tommy Hanson—good example of both scenarios.  People will complain about the necessity to breathe air if they could, so complaining about some baseball decisions should be a given, no matter the path taken with Jason Heyward.  People were unhappy when the league and an injury caught up to Schafer.  People were unhappy when Hanson came out of the gate strong and that he should have been called up sooner—seriously I'd never expected to see so many people upset at seeing a young stud being 5-0?  I am 100% in the camp that Heyward starts in AAA, or I'm not even going to rule out AA, regardless of how absurd his numbers in Spring Training might be.  I've often felt that ST is nowhere close to gouging talent as much as it is a bunch of guys getting their bodies in shape for the rigors of the season.  Pitchers are still trying to regain full arm strength, and a lot of people are coping with the cold in the early parts of the regular season; Schafer, who is a notoriously hard-worker might've (obviously) been in much better conditioning shape in ST, and blew away Blanco and Anderson, and forced the org's hand, before his stumble.  Gauge the talent in games that have meaning—start Heyward in the minors, let him prove himself, save the money, and call him up at a good point where the team could use the adrenaline shot.  As CB mentions, if "being stuck" with Matt Diaz, is the result in RF, we could do, loads worse.
MF: A couple of weeks ago I might have said yes, just let him do it because it is the simplest solution to our OF problems and I don't think, even if he were to struggle that he would produce less than Frenchy did last year. That said, with his recent injuries, I'd like him to get some time in AAA just to get his bearings. The X-Factor in all of this is Bobby Cox, because Bobby loved the guy last ST, and if Heyward comes in and pounds the ball this year he may say he wants him in Atlanta.

MG:  Does anyone think we'll keep Ryan Church around next year? I have a feeling the Braves will non-tender him. Should we keep him around? Is there any reason to? Doesn't Brandon Jones fill that role if Atlanta needs him to?
DH:  The question I have is, are there any other teams who would want him?  He can play all outfield positions, adequate with the bat, and has some patience.  I'm not necessarily convinced that Brandon Jones could produce at the Major League level as Ryan Church could offensively, and I like Church defensively a lot more than Bjönes.  I make no assurance to knowing exactly how the process works, but whether or not any other team really wants Church or not, I don't see any harm in floating him a minor-league deal, and see what happens.
CBW: Personally, I'm a huge fan of Ryan Church, and as inneffective as he seemed to be for the Braves, he was still a ridiculous upgrade over Jeff Francoeur. Seriously, check the stats again, Frenchy was that bad. But, I don't think I love him enough to see him make 3 millon dollars as a backup outfielder. He's a smooth outfielder with the ability to play all three positions and he's got enough double power to see him being useful off the bench, where the fact that he swings from the left side is a huge plus, but that's a lot of money when the Braves need to bring in a real slugger, and I just don't see being able to tie it up. Also, Church seems to be hitting a huge downswing, possibly caused by injuries. Now, I don't neccessarily think Brandon Jones is the answer either, cause I don't think he'd be effective as a bench player, but there are any number of guys that could be signed as a free agent, even a minor league free agent, to come in and be a worthwhile backup outfielder. If they can non-tender Church and re-sign him to a Minor League deal, one that has a much cheaper salary for him should he make the team, I'd love to see him back.
MF: I think if we don't plan on bringing up Heyward as our opening day RF then keeping Church makes a lot of sense. Last year the reason why we didn't have a winning record in the first half of the season is because our entire OF was putting up sub .700 OPS. If we get the same production from the guys we have now whether it be Heyward or Church in RF and Diaz and McLouth (or even Schafer) in the other spots, I don't think we will get any guys putting up sub .700 OPS. If that happens we could be battling with the Phillies for the division lead. The real question is whether we want to pay Church or not, and if we do pay him his Arb raise, will we be able to move him when Heyward is ready.


MG:  After Heyward I don't have a lot of faith in any of the Braves right field options. I went with Daniel Falcon as my number-2 RF prospect because at this point he has the most upside.
CBW: But really, after Heyward, what else do you need? When you've got a guy who could be a once in a generation star it's hard to expect the team to have much else at the same position. The fact that we have Cody Johnson and Adam Milligan in left field (as well as Robby Hefflinger, who I think is goig to be right with those two this time next year) and lesser, but still interesting prospects like Cory Harrilchak and Kyle Rose in center field, makes me think Atlanta's minor league outfield situation is pretty great. I don't think much of Falcon, or Anthony Feliz. In doing the writeup, I had a hard time finding much positive to say about them. Even if they both went to Rome in 2010 and had outstanding seasons, they'd still be a little old for me to be too excited about it. Heck, Falcon is the same age as Luis Sumoza, and Felix is older, and even though he had a down year, at least he's dominated short season ball, something neither of them have done. Chris Shehan is a decent player, and he might be able to rebound, but he's older and at best I really see him as a platoon/backup player. All of this makes me wonder why you guys were so willing to discount Jon Mark Owings. He had a bad year, but that was pretty much entirely due to the partially torn rotator cuff he suffered last year in the Carolina League playoffs. Ernesto Mejia didn't have a great year and only played in 36 games, but we had him 3rd on our 1B list. If you look at their 08 seasons in Myrtle Beach, they're pretty close, and while JMO loses some for being a year older than Ernie, he also isn't a complete defensive liability, in fact, he's an excellent outfielder. JMO is probably a better prospect than Shehan, Falcon, or Feliz, and maybe even better than Sumoza.
MF: CB's point is valid, just like what I was saying in the last roundtable. So what if our depth isn't great if we have a RF for the next 6 years? I'm not saying you don't need depth, but its not nearly as important when you don't have many glaring holes in the majors for the next couple of years. Concepcion Rodriguez played this season as a 22 year old in AA which is fine by me if you are looking for a backup OF. Sure he was pretty bad for most of the season, but he wasn't fall off the map bad and he was playing in Mississippi which can kill hitters. I will say I am not a fan of anyone else on the list really. Sumoza still has a chance, but he really needs to start harnessing his tools.

MG:  To me, Luis Sumoza has fallen out of prospect status.
CBW: I guess it all depends on your definition of prospect status. He certainly wasn't considered for the Top 25 anymore, that's for sure, but I don't think he's done as a player or anything. He's only going to be 21 going into next year, so there's plenty of time for him to get better and this is the first time since his first go-round in the US (as a 17 year old) that he's struggled. The fact that he had trouble taking a walk is a huge concern and the massive amount of outfiled errors make me wonder how bad he really is in the field, but there are things to like. Even with the poor season, 28 is a ton of doubles to hit, and he's got a little bit of speed. I don't think he's a big time prospect, but I didn't really think that when we got him, and he's going to have to repeat Rome and prove something, but I'm betting he has a much better 2010.
MF: He still needs to walk more and he needs to tap into his raw power. It is all there, but he is becoming more of a tease than a real prospect in my eyes. I give him one more year.

MG:  You guys seem to think pretty highly of Concepcion Rodriguez... why?
CBW: Well, he's a pretty prototypical outfield athlete and he had a great 2008, so there was some good reason to be excited about him coming into the year. And, frankly, he's fun to watch play. He's a natural athlete and he just looks smooth. I'd never see him becoming a star outfielder, but he could become a pretty good one, something like a David DeJesus. Once you look at his splits, you see that the biggest problem he had this year was dealing with Mississippi's park. It victimized a number of guys and made their years' look terrible; he hit .229 with a .534 OPS at home, compared to . 295 and a .753 OPS on the road. That's just a sign that he's not as bad as his totals make him look. (For reference about just how good Jason Heyward is, Mississippi's park didn't affect him at all; on the road for Mississippi he hit .342 with a 1.062 OPS compared to a .360 average and 1.055 OPS at home. Wow.)
MF: Why not? When compared to everyone else on this list he is the most advanced guy we have not named Heyward and he posted an .800+ OPS in 2008 in a league with an average .712. Ok his 2009 was pretty bad, but he was still only about 50 pts below the league average OPS and it was his first run through AA. I'm not saying this guy will ever be an every day RF for anyone, but I think he has the best shot out of the guys we have. He probably needs to walk some more and he needs to find that power that Mississippi took from him this year. And I would also like to point out that his OPS on the road this season was .752 which is about the league AVG in the southern league. We aren't looking at a star here, but he will be just 23 next season which is far from the end of the road for a prospect in the upper minors.